Chris Sale continues to be bitten by the injury bug.
The Red Sox left-hander was transferred to the 60-day injured list because of a stress reaction in his left scapula, the team said Friday.
The decision ensures the 34-year-old will remain on the IL until at least August, though the team said Sale doesn’t need surgery.
Nevertheless, Sale will be shut down for three to four weeks and then be re-evaluated.
“Now we’ve just got to be patient,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said before his club beat the Yankees, according to ESPN. “No surgical procedure, and that’s huge for us.”
The Red Sox ace was originally placed on the 15-day injured list on June 2 with shoulder inflammation after exiting his start against the Reds the day before after just 59 pitches.
In the fourth inning during that outing, he was visited twice at the mound by Cora, and on the second visit, Sale was removed from the game.
He struck out six and gave up one run on five hits throughout his 3²/₃ innings.
Sale, who is 5-2 with a 4.58 ERA in 11 outings this season, has seemed unable to escape the injury bug as of the last few seasons after years of dominance.
He missed more than 50 days in each of his last three seasons due to several injuries, including needing Tommy John surgery in 2020.
Sale only pitched 5²/₃ big league innings last season.
“Obviously, it’s not easy because of what he has gone through, but at the end of the day, I have to take care of him,” Cora said after the June 1 game, according to MLB.com. “I know he tried to take care of us, but it doesn’t work that way from my end.
“He wanted to finish it, but nah. He gave it a shot, but after that you can’t be irresponsible.”
Sale, who has 71 strikeouts this season, has received Cy Young award votes in seven separate seasons and recorded 2,135 strikeouts in 1,737 big league innings.
Despite the loss of Sale, the Red Sox did get good pitching and beat the Yankees, 3-2, on Friday night in The Bronx.
